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French soldier opens fire on machete wielding assailant near Louvre

Paris police say a soldier has opened fire outside the Louvre Museum after he was attacked by someone

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Updated: 12:02 PM EST Feb 3, 2017

Benh LIEU SONG/ WikiCommonsSOURCE: Benh LIEU SONG/ WikiCommons

French soldier opens fire on machete wielding assailant near Louvre

Paris police say a soldier has opened fire outside the Louvre Museum after he was attacked by someone

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Updated: 12:02 PM EST Feb 3, 2017

PARIS —

A French soldier shot and seriously wounded a man in a shopping mall beneath the Louvre Museum on Friday after he tried to attack them and shouted "Allahu akbar," officials said.

The man was carrying two backpacks, and he had two machetes, and when soldiers and police officers on patrol told the man that he could not come in with his bags, he attacked, said Yves Lefebvre, a police union official.

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"That's when he got the knife out and that's when he tried to stab the soldier," he said.

A soldier opened fire and the man was struck five times, once in the stomach, Paris police chief Michel Cadot said. The backpacks didn't contain any explosives, he said. One of the soldiers was slightly wounded on the scalp.

French President Francois Hollande says there's "no doubt" that the attack on the was of a "terrorist nature."

Speaking Friday to reporters at an EU summit in Malta, he said the situation around the Paris landmark museum is "totally under control" but the overall threat to France remains.

He said he expects the assailant to be questioned "when it is possible to do so." The attacker, who tried to attack soldiers guarding the Louvre with a machete, was shot five times and is hospitalized.

Hollande insisted the incident showed the need for the increased security patrols that have been deployed around France since attacks in 2015 and 2016.

The museum in the center of Paris is one of the French capital's biggest tourist attractions. Police have sealed off entrances around where the attack took place and closed the area to vehicles, snarling traffic in a busy part of central Paris. The situation is mainly calm, with confused tourists being gently shooed away by officers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said that a second person also was arrested but it is unclear whether they were linked to the attack. Brandet said about 1,000 people were inside the actual museum and were held inside in safe areas.

Olivier Majewski was just leaving his scooter in the parking lot beneath the Louvre when he saw a crush of people, 30 or 40, running and screaming "there's been a terror attack." The 53-year-old said he hid for about 15 minutes before gingerly making his way upstairs. He said people were clearly scared.